Tool



Au 23, W49. W J L KINS 2,48,037

TOOL

Filed March 1, 1945 FIG. 3 FIG.2

INVENTOR. WILLIAM J. LUCKINS ZATTORNiZ.

Patented Aug. 23, 1949 TOOL William J. Luckins, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor,

by mesne assignments, to Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a

corporation of Delaware Application March 1, 1945, Serial No. 580,461

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates to a tool for placing external cotters in a groove provided near the end of a shaft. Cotters of this type consist of a small disc-shaped piece of spring metal that is provided with a central opening and a slot leading to the opening. In use the slot in the cotter is placed over a groove that is turned near the end of the shaft on which it is to be placed.

The cotter is then forced on the shaft. The opening in the cotter is made slightly smaller in diameter than the groove so that the cotter, when it is forced on the shaft, snaps in place and is held there by its own resilience.

It has been the custom in the past to hold each cotter by hand in the groove in the shaft and to force it on the shaft by means of a pair of pliers. All too frequently the cotter would slip and the operation would have to be started over again with the resultant loss of time. The manual setting of the cotters was particularly diflicult where several parts were placed on a shaft under tension such as holding several parts in frictional engagement by means of a spring. In such cases it was quite often necessary to make a fixture to hold the parts in position on the shaft while the cotter was being set.

It is an object of the invention to provide a tool which will facilitate the setting of external cotters on shafts. It is a further object of the invention to provide a tool which will hold a plurality of cotters and which has a means to force these cotters into position in a groove formed adjacent the end of a shaft. The tool of the invention consists of a barrel which acts as a magazine to receive a plurality of the cotters. Attached to the barrel is a means to force individually each cotter upon a shaft, means, also attached to the barrel, being provided to receive and properly locate the end of the shaft upon which the cotter is to be placed.

The various features of novelty which characterize this invention are pointed out with particularity in the claim annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, however, its advantages and specific objects obtained with its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tool of this invention,

Figure 2 is a section through the tool,

Figure '3 is a view looking from the left in Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a View taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2, and

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing a shaft with a cotter attached thereto.

Referring to the drawings it'will be seen best in Figures 4 and 5 that the external cotters l with which this invention deals are in the form of' a circular disc of spring metal which is pro.- vided with a central opening 2 and a slot 3 extending from the outer edge to this opening- The cotter is also formed with a cut-away por-' tion so that there is a bridge part 4 that gives:

as the cotter is slid into position on the shaft- It is customary to make the opening 2 of slightly smaller diameter than the diameter of the slot in the shaft on which the cotter is to be placed. For example, if a shaft is to be used that is be- 2o tween and inch in diameter, the groove in the shaft will be cut so that it has a diameter of. 0.125", and the opening 2 in the cotter will be 0.122" in diameter. Thismeans that the opening in the cotter is 0.003 smaller than the diameter of the groove in the shaft, so that the cotter will be retained in place by the natural resiliency of its bridge part 4.

The tool with which the present invention is concerned and which is used to place the cotter in a suitable groove formed near the end of a shaft consists of a tube 5 which acts as a magazine for receiving a number of the cotters. This tube has a slot formed in it in which is inserted a wedge shaped key member 6 as shown in Figure 4. This key is adapted to receive the slot 3 of the cotters so that they will be held properly in position whil they are in the tool and before being applied to a shaft. The cotters which have been placed Within the tube or magazine are forced to the left in Figure 2 against a guide plate 9 that is fastened to the end of the tube. The force is applied to the cotters by a plug I that is in turn forced toward the left by a spring 8. It is noted that a cap H is provided on the right end of the tube which serves to hold the spring in place. The, supply of cottersin the magazine may be replenished by inserting them in the right end thereof after removing the cap II, the spring 8 and the plug 1.

The front of the tube has a vertical slot l2 cut in it of a width equal to the external diameter of the cotters and of a depth equal to the thickness of one of the cotters. This slot taken in connection with the plate 9 that is attached to the end of the tube serves as a guide for a 

